Lungs

Intoxicated

Laughing children in slow motion run past, I stand on a play ground.
"Where have you been"
A woman runs up and hugs my child sized body.
She leans back and looks at me with worried eyes, the sun flicks through the Amber in the brown in her eyes, chestnut hair like my own falls over her shoulders.
"Gen" a voice comes from her mouth, not of her own.
Air slams through my lungs, Luke's worried face with a waitress beside him look down at me.
I cough, trying to catch my breath.
"I'm fine" I say quickly
" no your not " says Luke
i fight past him and stand. I push past out of the diner, my vision blurred as if intoxicated. My breathing heavy, my mind messy. I go into the hotel room, I fall on the floor, my brain in a rush.
It flicks away to a summer day. My feet fall against cold cement, a track.
Other competitors follow close behind.
The woman with the chestnut hair sits calmly in the bleachers smiling proudly.
Mom.